Titanfall: Changing Tides
by YourLastWords
Summary: The I.M.C in the frontier has one job only: cleanse space of all Militia forces. Being cut off from the core systems doesn't mean that they don't have any more cards up their sleeves; ace pilot Finnick York will find that out soon enough. New winds are blowing over the frontier, and with new winds come new tides.


"Smugglers cove, everyone there is either a hired gun, or aspiring to be one." Sarah tossed me my helmet.

"Then he's definitely going to be there." I responded while climbing into the drop pod. My mission was to track down an elusive, yet decorated mercenary going by the name Red Star. This merc was notorious for hunting and killing some of the best ace pilots the militia had to offer thus giving him his other nickname 'Red Death'. He killed Sabre squad, Bull's-eye squad, and put Valiant team down a member, hell, he's even rumored to have been the reason for Barker's 'disappearance', but his skill as a pilot wouldn't deter me from serving him justice: frontier style.

"He's got over twenty ace pilot kills under his belt; you've picked one hell of a mission." Graves handed me my Hemlok.

Bish walked over with his computer in hand. "You never let go of that thing do you?"

"Nope, if I did there'd be dozens of pilots around the system without their 'eye in the sky'. Im feeding the targets profile details to your helmet just in case you need to check them again."

I secured my helmet and looked over The Red Star's profile. He had black hair, a scar across his chin, and he was always seen around his signature red titan. The report said if you saw him, turn the other way. "There's not much info to go on Bish. There isn't even an estimated location."

"Just find his titan; he won't be too far away from it. My suggestion would be to look near a bar. If there's one thing we know about him it'd be that he likes to drink." The door on the drop pod closed and sealed.

Sarah's face popped up on my helmets HUD. "Pilot we want you to get into the mission zone, kill the target, and get out of there before any mercenary or worse… the I.M.C catch wind of your mission. If you can't kill the target quick enough you better hope that there is a god because if you get cornered into a fight with The Red Star the results will not be pleasant."

"I'm beginning to think that you don't trust me to complete the mission." I was offended by Sarah underestimating me. I had survived the refueling raid, I fought in the battle of Angel City, and I lived through the Badlands. some mercenary wasn't going to just simply kill me no matter how skilled of a pilot he was.

"We trusted the last twelve pilots we sent to kill this mercenary, and they all came back in coffins… most of them at least."

"Then it looks like I'll be the first one to comeback alive." I knew I sounded cocky, but a good attitude always helped me in some of the toughest situation.

"Hopefully, Sarah out." Sarah's screen faded from my HUD as the entire pod shook. Hearing the release of air I prepared for the pods descent.

"Launching!" I heard one of the engineers yell right before my pod was sent rocketing towards the planet below.

This was always my favorite part to any mission, taking in space's vivid rays of raw energy that lit up the void in stunning shades of red and green. I could see the debris of the carcasses of I.M.C and Militia frigates drifting around endlessly. Out of the drop pod's windows I could see clouds below me, and a body of water. They had dropped me right near the mission area.

THUMP!

I kicked open the blast door Hemlok BF-R in hands as dirt and water fell back to the earth. I scanned the area to check for any signatures on the ground, I found none.

My HUD flickered as a com window opened up. "Pilot, this is graves. We have a reported I.M.C ship named the "Winter Rain" In low orbit, they haven't picked up the Red Eye's signature yet so we can't afford to spend more time near this planet than we have to. Finish your mission and meet at the designated evac zone. Graves out." My HUD flickered again this time highlighting the area I was in with a red x.

I swung my Hemlok BF-R over my shoulder and trudged through the water towards Smugglers Cove.

xXx

"Selling pilot jump kits, grab them while they're on sale."

"Did your titan lose a finger while loading cargo or in a battle? Come buy two titan fingers for the price of one."

As I walked through the streets of Smugglers Cove I was greeted by several merchants bargaining lines. Walking over to a merchant's wooded stand, I decided to ask him for directions. "Do you know where the closest bar is?"

"Do you know how much titan fingers can cost these days?" The man said ignoring my question.

"Look just give me directions, if you do ill… I'll buy a finger." I reached in one of my utility pouches and pretended to look for some credits.

"Now you're talking. Walk through this market, and you'll be right in front of the Drunken Nessie's parlor." I looked through the market to see hordes of people swarming everywhere.

"Thanks, I got to be going now."

"Wait you didn't buy a finger!" The merchant yelled after me, but I was already halfway through the market.

I pushed open the door to the parlor only to see a drunken man fall at my feet.

"James you okay?" His intoxicated friend asked. "He'll be okay he's just gotta walk it off." The drunk looked at me.

"Uh-huh" I stepped over the drunken man and took a seat near the counter. This place had Backwater written all over it: Smugglers, mercs wooden shacks, you even had to manually open doors in this place. The atmosphere of this town was too chaotic for my taste. I wondered what a mercenary such as The Red Star would be doing in a dump like this.

"Hello sir, may I offer you a drink?" The bartender inquired as he began to already fill up a glass with a blue substance.

I took off my helmet and placed it in front of me. "No drinks for me."

"Well of course not, you're no younger than nineteen. This stuff will put you on the floor- passed out in seconds." The man drank the blue substance himself.

"I need help with something." I motioned the bartender closer to me. "I need to find Red Star have you seen him?"

The man looked around frantically before whispering back. "For your safety… for mine, I ain't gonna tell you. He'll find out that someone's looking for him. Seeing that you're in the Militia, he's not gonna take kindly to you."

"I don't need him to; I just need to find him." I felt a hand grab my shoulder so I quickly turned around with my Hemlok BF-R in hand.

"Easy buddy." The armor wearing man in front of me held out his hands in surrender. "I heard you were looking for the amazing Red Star. Well good sir," Something with immense force collided with my head, knocking me onto the ground. "You've come to the right place."

I reached for my Hemlok which I dropped; it was right beside the man. "Who do you think you are?" I asked furiously.

"Who do you think I am?" The man removed his red helmet revealing the familiar face that I had actually never seen in person. Red Star had a smug smile on his face as he kicked my gun away towards a table of people who screamed when they saw the fire arm.

"Didn't think that you'd be so upfront about showing yourself." I added with a smug smile of my own. To be completely honest I was absolutely terrified of being in front of this murderer.

"Well when a man… or a boy tries to hunt me down the best thing I can do is confront him. I know that you're going to _try_ and kill me, but you will fail just like the dozens of other people that have attempted to do so."

My heart was pounding right now, and I wasn't even stimmed. How could he be so nonchalant about facing someone whose job was to eliminate him? Something wasn't right.

"Shall we get into our titans and duke it out like real pilots?"

I stood up and put on my helmet then nodded.

"Well then let our titans decide who's alive, and who's dead." I heard a heavy thud come from outside. Moments later a giant red fist came crashing through the parlor's wooden frame, picking up the Red Star and pulling him through the hole that had been created.

"Everyone get down!" I yelled trying to calm the drunken people that had been aware enough to sense the danger in the situation. I opened up a com-channel. "Sarah send down my titan five meters north of my position."

"Copy that prepare for Titan Fall."

I kicked open the doors of the parlor and looked at the sky. A cackling noise was heard from my titan tearing through the atmosphere. I looked at the end of the street to see Red Stars signature titan standing there with its blast door opened revealing its pilot. 'I should take a shot.' I thought, but it felt cheap to do that after I agreed to his duel. Besides, if I could defeat him in my titan I would be rewarded beyond comprehension for taking down 'The Red Death" in his own game.

THUMP!

I was enveloped in my titans dome shield. My metallic friend crouched between me and my enemy. Running I slid through my titan's legs as it picked me up and put me into the pilot's seat.

"May the best pilot win." Red Star yelled from his titan. In response I closed my titan's blast doors, ready for battle.

"Welcome back, I kept the seat warm for you." My A.I Jeeves greeted.

"Jeeves, give me the run-down on that enemy titan ASAP." I said while laying down my hemlock next to my seat.

"Affirmative sir, give me just a moment."

Through my titan's HUD I could see my adversary's titan open its doors. "What're you waiting for pilot? Show me your full piloting potential."

"Scan complete, posting the titan's specs in the corner of your HUD." The corner of the screen flashed the schematics for the Red Star's titan. "Are you glitching out Jeeves?" I said noting that all of the titan's parts were listed as an unknown origin.

"Negative sir, the technology of that atlas is far more advanced than any other titan that has been recorded."

"A prototype." I muttered as I brought up my arc cannon. I examined the titan thoroughly for the first time. It was clearly an Atlas, yet it seemed to be more armored, yet sleeker. It had rocket pods on both of its shoulders and carried a rail gun that was seemingly connected to something on its arm. A belt feeder possibly?

"Well, let's not keep him waiting." I moved my titan forward down the street using my titan's dash to give me more momentum. "Let's see how tough The Red Star really is." I raised my titan's fist ready to scrape more than paint off of my enemies' hull. Instead of colliding with metal my titan's fist collided with wood scattering the materials everywhere. "Damn he's fast."

"You charged me, really? That's insulting to think that you believe you'll be able to simply kill me with a metal fist." Red Star's voice resounded thorough the small town. His voice was definitely coming from his Titan. "You've had your turn… now its mine."

"Behind you-" Jeeves tried to inform me of the incoming attack, but it was too late. My titan's shields were lowered and a good chunk of my armor compromised.

"Jeeves!" I tried to talk to my A.I who was talking, yet his voice cut in and out. "Jeeves, talk to me, give me a damage report." I dashed behind a building to let my titan's shields restore.

"S-severe d-damage to the back of your t-titan." Jeeves stuttered.

"Obviously!" I shouted looking at my titan's armor monitor. "What the hell hit me?" It couldn't be his rail gun he shot me too quick for that to be it. Some pilots have an instant shot mod on their rail guns, but they don't do that much damage to a fully shielded and armored titan.

"I cannot answer that sir. I have scanned the weapons of that titan over 1,000 times, and I still can't find the source of that much damage."

"Then I guess we'll have to keep-" Metallic hands grabbed at the hull of my titan through the building and pulled my titan all the way through the wooden house and back onto the streets.

"Your shields are down, I suggest taking cover." Jeeves informed.

My titan was face down on the street, so I used the arms to pick my titans metal frame back to its feet.

"Hiding are we? Why is it that all of you Militia assassins resort to that when they're facing me? Am I really that good… of course I am."

'Damnit he's gloating.' I knew he probably had a gratified smirk on his face, a fully charged arc cannon shot would fry it off real nice. Charging my cannon fully I unleashed a bolt of electricity which seared through the air directly towards my adversary.

"Now the fight begins." I heard The Red Star say through his titan's voice amplifiers. The red titan launched a missile from its shoulder which made contact with the bolt of lightning, causing a black smoke cloud to engulf the area.

"Detecting movement directly to your right sir."

"It's probably just a civilian Jeeves, there's no way he covered that much ground in a few seconds." I peered into the smoke cloud trying to spot something-anything in the smoke.

"Brace for impact!" Jeeves said loudly, yet calm.

"Wha-?" The HUD of my titan flashed in and out each time letting me take a glimpse of a red titan running straight towards me. "Gah!" With incredible force my titan was sent stumbling into a building behind me from the shoulder charge of the enemy titan. The cock-pit shook violently before settling down.

"Critical damage sir, hull integrity has been decreased."

It can't end like this. I have barely even taken a shot at The Red Star; I was going to die without even putting up a fight.

My titan didn't get out from the wreck of the building it just simply laid on top of the rubble unresponsive to my commands. My eyes were wide in fear as I watched the red titan walk slowly to my position, each step it took causing bricks and wood to detach from what was left of the building.

"Sir, I have calculated your odds of survival."

"And?" I was looking frantically for any escape route that I could take. My titan was immobile, and ejecting from my titan would send me straight into the building, and or right in front of Red Star.

"There is a twenty percent chance of you making it out of here alive if you were to eject."

"And if I wasn't to do that?" I asked if I had any chance of completing this mission I would take it.

"There is no chance." Jeeves said cold and mechanically.

"Then it looks like we're going to be fighting until my titan can't fight no more."

The red titan was now meters away from me still continuing its approach. Pushing a button, a barrage of rockets shot out in front of me half of them missing, but the other half hit their target. If I wasn't scared before, I definitely was now. The titan in front of me barely even flinched as its shields absorbed all of the damage. What kind of titan was this? The maneuverability and raw power of this titan was astonishing. The hull of my titan was now face-to-face with Red Star's. In a last ditch effort I swung my titan's fist at Red Star causing sparks to fly from the friction of metal-on- metal. Pushing my luck I continued to pound the enemy titan until my titan's fists were subdued. Unable to free my hands from the red titans grip, I needed a plan to get out of here quick. "Jeeves, can we nuclear eject?" I asked since my arc cannon was too far out of reach to grab. If I was going to die here, I wouldn't be dying alone.

"Nuclear ejection is not a feature on this titan, however dash recharger is."

"Well if that's all I got, let's use it." I used my titan's dash to give me more force to be able to push Red Star off of me.

"It seems as if though you're out of playing cards my friend. If you don't mind I'll be ending this battle now, I grow weary of this one sided fight." I could see some kind of metal casing form around the enemy titan's fingers. Soon after a crunching noise was heard coming from somewhere.

"Where is that noise coming from?" I searched the cockpit fearful that the wretched noise was my titan collapsing.

"Your titan's digits are being put under immense pressure sir." Jeeves informed.

Looking at my titan's hands I could see that my titan's fingers were indeed being crushed. Metal scraped on metal as my titans digits distorted and crumpled.

"Your titan has now official been rendered disabled."

Unexpectedly Red Star backed off and brought up his rail gun. He hadn't even charged it when a metal casing was sent straight to my titan's hull. The inside of the cockpit rustled violently from the impact.

"Critical damage, eject sir, eject."

The thing was that I couldn't eject, I was stuck in my own coffin right now, and there was nowhere to go.

"Still alive? Maybe Militia engineering isn't that bad after all." Red Star said mockingly as he paced in front of my titan. "Guess I'll just have to kill you with my bare hands…my titans anyways." I watched in horror as his titan retracted his fist. He was going to execute me.

"No!" I screamed in defiance. I ejected through my titans from blast doors just in time to dodge the killing blow. My eyes were closed, I thought I was going to die, but when I opened them, I found myself on the enemy titan's arm.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" I heard him say, surprised at my last minute maneuver. I clung on for dear life as he shook his titan's hand. "Get your filthy Militia hands off of my titan!" He his arm some more before stopping, presumably giving up.

"Fine, if you won't get off my titan," His blast doors opened. "I'll make you!" He ran and jumped out his titan and tackled me off its arm. We both landed on the ground loudly. I looked up at Red Star, but my HUD wasn't showing me my radar or even my grenade count, it must have gotten knocked off.

The Red Star got up and brushed dirt off of his armor. behind him his titan aimed its rail gun at me. I braced to be blasted to a bloody pulp. "Stand down Sid, let me handle him, face-to-face."

A menacingly low pitched voice responded. "Affirmative."

"Get ready to die." The Red Star got into a fighting stance. Balling my hands into a fist I charged at him. "Predictable." I heard him mutter as he ducked, dodging my strike.

"Shit." Was the last word that came out of my mouth as he sprang upwards hitting me in the chin with his armored fist. I fell on my knees trying to recover from the blow. Spitting out blood on the street, I got up and charged at him again without thinking.

His fist connected with my temple causing me to stumble around in confusion. My vision was blurred and everything was spinning. In a stroke of luck the next punch I threw hit him dead in the eye.

"You Militia dog." I heard him grumble as he rubbed his eye. Seizing the opportunity I used my jump jets to give me more momentum then I shoulder checked him into a wall, causing the already crumbling wall to collapse more. I began to rapidly jab at his stomach. His armor stung my fists when I hit him, but I didn't let up until i saw cracks in his armor.

"Die!" I wound up my fist to hopefully deliver the knockout punch, but something was off. The Red Star moved his hand slightly and soon after I felt an agonizing sharp pain in my thigh. I stumbled backwards as I glanced at the metal blade that tore through my flesh. I gritted my teeth as I tried to hold back a wail.

"I almost feel bad for having to do this to such a young man," Red star walked over to me and retrieved his knife. Screaming loudly I grasped my leg trying to control the oozing blood. "But money is money, and you're the ticket to my paycheck." Wait he already knew I was coming? Was he hired to kill me?

In a fit of anger and or desperation I swung my fist at him again. This time he caught both of them. "Why can't I kill you?!" I yelled in frustration. I was getting my ass handed to me during our entire fight, and nothing I tried changed that.

"Don't feel bad. You're just not on the skill level that I am." I looked at his presumptuous face and felt anger flaring up inside of me. I began to feel my fingers being crushed. I let out a yelp as he continued to put pressure on my hands. In a moment of desperation I head-butted him causing him to lose his grip on me. "You shouldn't have-" while he rubbed his head I jump kicked him causing him to land on his titan's foot.

"You should've been wearing a helmet." I clutched my hands to make the pain fade, but it only proceeded in making it worse.

"You should've stayed in your ship." He retorted before running straight at me.

The speed at which he was coming at me was remarkable. Using his jump-pack jets, he closed the distance between us. I attempted to throw a punch at him, but he kicked me in the gut causing me to double over. He then grabbed my hair and pulled me back to eye level. "All of you Militia pilots have one thing in common." He retracted his fist. "You all die like grunts." He began to violently pummel me not stopping his continuous string of punches.

'_He's got over twenty ace pilot kills under his belt; you've picked one hell of a mission.'_ Graves's voice echoed in my mind.

My vision became more blurred with every punch.

'_We trusted the last twelve pilots we sent to kill this mercenary, and they all came back in coffins.'_ The words of Sarah hit me hard as I finally came to the realization that I was dying.

I felt my warm blood running out of my nose. I was too exhausted to even shield my face. I looked at my killer one last time. "You shall be the twenty-fourth pilot to die by my hands."

Something hit my temple with tremendous force, and everything went black.

* * *

><p><strong>This is my first fanfiction ever so feedback would be greatly appreciated.<strong>

**I plan to continue this whether or not it has a lot of views/reviews so for the people that read this hopefully I've caught your attention. I don't see a lot of Titanfall stories on here which is a shame because the Titanfall universe has a lot of potential in my opinion. Anyways if you enjoyed, and only if you have leave a review and or favorite this story to show your support.**


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